American Government Final

Who had the longest speech in the Senate’s history?

Senator Cory Booker

First Amendment

Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press

Unofficial Fourth branch of government

The press

Why did the founders care so much about the rights of the media?

Free speech did not exist under British rule, would constrain gov’t by showing wrongdoings, essential to participation in a democracy

News Desert

a geographic place where there is no longer a news outlet that reports on important local issues

Muckrackers

a group of reform-minded writers and journalists during the progressive era

Jacob Riis

described the deplorable conditions in “How the other half lives” in urban slums in NY

Stephen Crane

wrote a novel called “Maggie” which examines the perils of prostitution, poverty, and ultimately her death

Frank Norris

published “The Octopus” which describes the corruption in the railroad industry

Who coined “Muckruckers”?

Teddy Roosevelt

Upton Sinclair

revealed how monopolies and companies treated workers as “wage slaves”

John Griffin

Black Like Me

Seymour Hersh

The My Lai Massacre

Daniel Ellsberg

Pentagon papers

Pentagon papers

described that the government from Truman to Johnson had deceived the American people about the country’s involvement in Vietnam

New York Times Co. v. United States

Supreme Court decision reaffirmed the press’s right to publish classified documents without risk of government censorship or punishment

Citizen Journalism

news reported and distributed by citizens, rather than professional journalists and for-profit news organizations

News Aggregators

Apple News, Twitter, Reddit- synthesize the headlines and “top” news stories for the readers

Digital Divide

the gap in access to the internet among demographic groups based on education, income, age, geographic location, and race/ethnicity

Reality Apathy

is when its so hard to make sense of what’s happening people just give up in their democracy

Agenda Setting

How does the media determine what to cover?

Media Framing

What you read and/or see is not the entire event, but rather a version of the event

How do we frame media?

word choice and selective use of sources

emphasis frames

simplifying reality by focusing on a subset of relevant aspects of a situation or issue

Conflict frame

liberal vs. conservative viewpoints

consensus frame

scientific community on climate change

reaction frame

congress reacts to presidential actions

wrongdoing exposure frame

local news

straight news account frame

network news broadcasts

Why does local news matter

1. National outlets provide 2-minute summaries of local events while local reporters can dig into the matters in much detail and revisit stories many times
2. The primary purpose of local news is to “see, hear, know, care about, and
understand their community”
3. Preserves local customs and traditions. Act as local museums and libraries for information
4. National news won’t hold local elected officials accountable
5. Local communities get to know each other more
6. Most older citizens get their news from local television
7. It drives conversation and change in local politics & can influence national issues

Civil liberties

basic political freedoms that protect citizens from governmental abuses of power

Why weren’t the bill of rights included in the original drafting of the constitution?

1. Some argued it was “unnecessary” since the Constitution only
delegated powers to the national government
2. Could be “dangerous;” to put restraints on “powers which are not
granted” could provide a pretext for governments to claim more
powers than were in fact granted
3. The Federalists viewed the Constitution as a bill of rights in itself,
containing provisions that amounted to a bill of rights without
requiring additional measures.

Civil Rights

your general right to equality under the law

Nationalizing the bill of rights

1. This means it applies to all citizens and residents in any
geographic territory controlled by the U.S.
2. This did not happen until the late 19th Century

13th amendment

outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude except as punishment

14th amendment

ensures citizenship, due process, and equal protection

15th amendment

the right to vote shall not be denied on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

the first enslaved africans arrive in

1565 spanish florida

1619 Jamestown, Virginia

20 enslaved Africans were transported to Virginia and were officially classified as indentured servants, but they quickly became the first enslaved people

Black codes

1865-1877- designed to restrict and limit freedoms for african americans, designed to keep african americans as a cheap labor force post-slavery

Jim Crow

1877-1964- racial and political caste system, segregation and legal restrictions, dehumanizations of african americans, mass violence and terrorism

Free Years

1964-

First African American to address Congress

John Willis Menard

Selective incorporation

the process by which different protections in the Bill of Rights were incorporated into the 14 th Amendment, thus guaranteeing citizens protection from state as well as national govts

Palko v. Connecticut

• Palko was convicted of 2nd degree murder
• Afterwards, Connecticut charged him again for 1 st degree murder and won
• He was sentenced to death
• He appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court arguing this was a
violation of “double jeopardy”